JONESBORO, Ark.?Arkansas State dug a hole it couldn't climb out of in the second half as the Indians fell to the Mean Green of North Texas, 82-79, in men's basketball action Saturday.
ASU (8-13, 3-4) once again let a halftime lead slip away at home as a six-point edge evaporated into a four-point deficit in just over five minutes. Isaac Hines keyed the second half surge by the Mean Green (11-6, 4-2) by scoring 12 of his team-high 17 points after the break. The Indians wasted Isaac Wells' 20 point effort and Dereke Tipler's 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists night.
Trailing by six with 2:10 left when Kendrick Davis was left open for a layup, ASU brought the ball down court where Marcus Ardison was fouled underneath. Ardison connected of both free throw attempts to cut the lead down to four. On the next series North Texas made an errant pass.
After a quick outlet pass, Lorenzo Hampton took the ball, dribbled to his right and knocked down a layup, cutting NT's lead to two points with just 2:04 to play. But ASU's defense couldn't hold again, this time as Hines shook loose for a jumper with 1:18 left to make the score 80-76.
The next possession Hampton was fouled and made one of two free throws to slice the NT lead back to three at 80-77. Another solid defensive stand by ASU and a key defensive rebound by Isaac Wells left ASU with 50 seconds and a shot a comeback.
Dereke Tipler took the ball and dribbled just past mid-court where he found Ardison just inside the free throw line with his man pinned. A lob pass over the defender left Ardison open for a layup, making it a one-point game with 42 seconds left at 80-79.
ASU, still with a timeout left, elected not to use it. The Mean Green ran the clock down before Davis shook Tipler and hit a tough 15-foot jumper with six seconds left. ASU couldn't get a good look at the basket and Hampton's desperation 3 from the left wing clanged harmlessly off the rim as time ran off the clock.
The Mean Green lead got as high as 10 points at 71-61 with 4:38 left before the Indians could regroup. Kendrick Davis connected on a 3 from deep in the right corner to put NT up 10. ASU followed that with a 3 from Tipler from the top of the key to slice the NT lead back to seven and followed with a solid defensive stand.
North Texas again utilized a deep bench to overcome foul trouble, getting 37 points from the bench on the night. ASU, still limited in a rotation decimated by injuries, had 16 points off the bench, but 12 of those came from Tipler.
Ardison scored 14 points on the night to go with eight boards and three blocked shots. Jim Jones had his most productive game in a few games with 10 points while Yual Banks scored 11. Davis and Hines led the Mean Green with 17 points each, with Jeffrey Simpson and Calvin Watson each scoring 10.
ASU lost for the fifth time at home this season and is now an uncharacteristic 4-5 in the Convocation Center.
